Bernhard Vogel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Vogel in 1994 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister-President of Thuringia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 February 1992 – 5 June 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Ulrich Fickel Gerd Schuchardt Andreas Trautvetter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Josef Duchač | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Dieter Althaus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President of the Bundesrat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 November 1987 – 31 October 1988 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Vice President | Walter Wallmann | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Walter Wallmann | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Björn Engholm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 3 December 1976 – 31 October 1977 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Vice President | Albert Osswald | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Albert Osswald | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Gerhard Stoltenberg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2 December 1976 – 8 December 1988 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Otto Meyer Carl-Ludwig Wagner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Helmut Kohl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Carl-Ludwig Wagner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister for Education and Culture of Rhineland-Palatinate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 18 May 1967 – 2 December 1976 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister-President | Peter Altmeier Helmut Kohl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Eduard Orth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Hanna-Renate Laurien | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1932-12-19)19 December 1932 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 2 March 2025(2025-03-02) (aged 92) Speyer, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | CDU (from 1960) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Hans-Jochen Vogel (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Heidelberg University Munich University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature | _deutscher_Politiker.png) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bernhard Vogel (German:[ˈbɛʁnhaʁtˈfoːɡl̩]; 19 December 1932 – 2 March 2025) was a German politician of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the 4th Minister President ofRhineland-Palatinate from 1976 to 1988 and the second Minister President ofThuringia from 1992 to 2003. He was the only person to have been head of two different German federal states and was thelongest-governing Minister President of Germany. He served as the 28th and 40th President of theBundesrat in 1976 to 1977 and 1987 to 1988.
Vogel was born inGöttingen on 19 December 1932 and grew up inGiessen.[1] He received hisAbitur inMunich in 1953,[2] and began studies in political science, history, sociology, and economics, first inHeidelberg and then in Munich.[2] He received his doctorate in 1960,[2] while working as a research assistant at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Heidelberg.[3] He became a lecturer there the following year, also working in adult education.[4]
In 1960, Vogel joined the CDU.[5] In 1963, Vogel was elected to the municipal council of Heidelberg, but resigned two years later, following his election to the Bundestag.[3] He joined the governing board of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany in the Rhineland Palatinate in 1965.[2][5] From 1965 to 1967, Vogel was a member of the GermanBundestag, a position from which he resigned to assume the job of State Minister of Culture and Education in Rhineland-Palatinate under Minister PresidentPeter Altmeier.[4][5] He continued in the same cabinet position under Altmeier's successor in 1969,Helmut Kohl.[4] In 1973, when Kohl became chair of the national CDU, Vogel succeeded him as state party chair in Rhineland-Palatinate.[6]
In December 1976, Vogel became Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate to replace Kohl, who had been elected a federal deputy.[6] Vogel immediately assumed the presidency of the Federal Council[7] until 31 October 1977, at the same time becoming chairman of the supervisory board of theZweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF),[8]Germany's second largest public broadcaster. In the regional elections of March 1979 he maintained a bare majority of his party, with 50% of the vote and 51 regional deputies out of 100.[9] In March 1983 the party improved its position, obtaining 52% of the vote and 57 deputies.[10] Vogel became vice-president of theEuropean Democratic Union (EDU) in 1985 and again won the regional elections on 17 May 1987 but with only a plurality of 45.1% of the vote and 48 deputies elected out of 100, ending the sixteen-year absolute majority of Christian Democrats.[11] Vogel's failure to be re-elected as state chair of his party in 1988 led to his resignation as Minister President in a famous speech which he ended with the often-quoted phrase: "May God protect Rhineland-Palatinate!", an unusual display of public piety by German standards.[12]
After his resignation, Vogel concentrated on the management of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, of which he became chairman in 1989.[2] After the resignation of the first Thuringian Prime MinisterJosef Duchač 1992, Vogel became Minister-President of Thuringia on 5 February.[13] From 1993 to 1999, he was chairman of the Thuringian CDU.[2] He gave up the chairmanship of the Adenauer Foundation in 1993.[2]1994 CDU andSPD formed a grand coalition.[2][14] In the1999 elections, the CDU achieved an absolute majority.[15] For reasons of age, Vogel resigned from office as Minister-President on 5 June 2003.[5] He was followed byDieter Althaus.[16]
From 2001 until 2009, Vogel served again as president of theKonrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin.[17]
In 2012, Vogel was awarded the Mercator Visiting Professorship for Political Management at theUniversität Essen-Duisburg'sNRW School of Governance. He gave both seminars and lectures at the university.[18]
Vogel was nominated by his party as delegate to theFederal Convention for the purpose of electing thePresident of Germany in2022.[19]
Vogel was a devoutRoman Catholic.[20] He was single and had no children.[21] His brother was the SPD politicianHans-Jochen Vogel (1926–2020), a former mayor of Munich and Berlin, federal minister of justice and candidate for chancellorship.[21] He had lived inSpeyer.[22] since 1965.
Vogel died in Speyer on 2 March 2025, at the age of 92.[1][23]
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| Weimar Republic (1920–1933) |  | |
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| Nazi Germany (1933–1945) | ||
| Soviet administration / DDR (1945–1952) |
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| Federal Republic of Germany (since 1990) | ||
